Dethrone of the Nightmare’s Hangman
UNFINISHED The Red Knave was not the only pirate ship to sail the high seas, the most notable ship who sailed at the time was ‘The Hangman’ a feared pirate ship with a known high body count of ships sunk. Two of those ships being a Western navy ship which put them on the map as one of the most wanted ship and crew out there. Kenneth knew the stories of The Hangman as it sailed way before he even joined the trade vessel as a rigger. Now with his own crew, a ship with hefty firepower, he decided it was time for the king of the sea to be dethroned. He was tipped off at a port in Hallmond by a port worker who claimed The Hangman had just left this port and was informed of the direction the ship was sailing. Kenneth paid the man a large sum in exchange for the information and also promised him a share of the booty in hopes to secure truth out of the man. He had quickly set sail in the direction of The Hangman, soon catching sight of it and following it close behind. Once he got close enough for the chaser cannons to be in range to fire, he raised the jolly roger as a sign to allow them to surrender. After minutes with no anchor dropped The Red Knave fired it’s chaser cannons, one of two shots landing into the stern of the ship, followed by a second rally in which one hit one of the rear masts of The Hangman. This caused some rigging to come undone and ultimately slow their ship down. The Hangman’s captain steered the ship to the left, bringing his port side guns into view of The Red Knave. In response, the Knave had in turn steered left also and a gunfight between the two ships ensued. The Hangman already having sustained damage to the stern and mast of the ship was at a disadvantage in movement, allowing Kenneth’s ship to get closer all the while still firing at the ship’s port side.'' The gunfight ended with The Hangman losing, most of it’s cannons destroyed or rendered unusable and The Red Knave moving in range for boarding. The Hangman’s captain and crew were the most notorious on all the seas and did not give up without a fight. They had waited till the plank was dropped and for Kenneth and his men to cross over, meeting for a battle once they had boarded. This ultimately finished with the death of Colter Stratford, “The Nightmare of the Sea” and ship captain of The Hangman. Kenneth, at the time thinking all of his prey’s men were dead was called out to by one of his own men, turning to see he had a woman tied up with a knife to her throat. The crewmember exclaimed she had jumped to Kenneth’s ship during the fight and killed one of his men. Kenneth was unpleased to see the death of one of his, though he knew killing her would be a quick and painless death and not enough to make up for the death of one of his hard working crewman. He decided it would be worth a lot more to take her in as a deckhand and bind her to a life debt to make up for the crewman she had killed, and taunted her by taking her captain’s hat and wearing it as his own. The crew originally wasn’t pleased with his decision, though soon were swayed after he explained the harsher pain she would endure as opposed to killing her on the spot. Piper Vossler was the name of the woman who was in life debt to Kenneth Rowley, starting out working only as a deckhand, swabbing and cleaning the deck and helping with lifting and moving cargo. However later down the line, eleven years of service later was made the Sailing Master of The Red Knave, still indebted to this day. After the now known ‘Dethrone of the Nightmare’s Hangman’, Kenneth ordered his crew to bring aboard all the cargo they could find, which uncovered The Hangman had been transporting a large quantity of orcish brine in which they later sold. The Red Knave’s victory was yet to be over, when Kenneth had decided to sail through the Eganian Sea to the Western Kingdom with Colter Stratford’s body aboard as proof of his victory against the infamous Hangman.